Saving Wildlife

The Bronx Zoo is part of an effort to save wildlife that began 120 years ago with the creation of the New York Zoological Society, an organization founded on science and hope which has since grown to become the Wildlife Conservation Society.

If you have visited us, or are a fan of Animal Planet’s The Zoo, you might be familiar with some of the ways in which our parks have helped to protect species in the wild. Bronx Zoo conservationists saved, bred, and reintroduced into the wild Tanzania’s Kihansi spray toads. The Bronx Zoo played a crucial role in the reintroduction of American bison to the western plains and eastern hellbenders to New York’s rivers. Scientists in our Wildlife Health Center conduct trailblazing research to understand and combat zoonotic diseases such as Ebola, avian flu, and canine distemper.

But WCS’s story stretches far beyond the boundaries our New York parks.

Our conservationists work in forests, deserts, mountains, plains, and oceans across the globe. We have boots on the ground in some of the planet’s most threatened habitats, focused on species facing the greatest dangers, including great apes, big cats, elephants, sharks and rays, marine mammals, turtles, and many others.

Our team, more than 4,000 strong, works every day in nearly 60 countries and all the world’s oceans to save wildlife and wild places.